Bow and stern construction of barges or like vessels adapted to be towed



Jan. 16, 1962 c. n. ROACH N CONSTRUCTION OF BARGES OR LIKE VESSELS ADAPTED TO BE TQWEID BOW AND STER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.

INVENTOR (2 9 5133. 4 0190 ATTORNEY Jan. 16, 1962 c. D. ROACH 3,016,362

BOW AND STERN CONSTRUCTION OF BARGES 0R LIKE VESSELS ADAPTED TO BE TOWED Filed Dec. 31, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I III/ III/I I 11/ BY Manaz ATTORNEY The present invention relates to barges and like vessels adapted to be towed and has more particular reference to the bow and stern construction of such barges to give them directional stability and minimize their usual yawing tendencies.

One object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved barge or like vessel adapted to be towed, in which the bow is so constructed as to provide ready turning of the barge and the stern is so constructed as to give the stern portion of the vessel directional stability and prevent yawing of the vessel.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a barge or like vessel to be towed, as characterized above, in which the bow is made convex, with the side edges of the upper inclined bow portion transversely inclined so that the tendency of the barge to get out of line with the axis of the tow is minimized.

A further object of the invention is to provide a barge, as characterized above, in which the bottom portion of the barge at the stern is upwardly inclined and is provided with a shallow concave recess which is symmetrical rel ative to the longitudinal center line of the barge with the sides of the recess converging symmetrically in a direction from the stern toward the bow and the depth of the recess decreasing from the stern end forwardly at such a rate that the recess terminates at a selected location between the stern end and the transverse axis of the barge.

A further object is to provide a barge, as characterized above, which is economical and simple in construction and particularly eificient in carrying out the function for which it is designed.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will ap pear in the following specification when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic top plan view of a conventional barge provided with conventional skegs and diagrammatically illustrates the manner in which the skegs deflect the water flow to resist yawing;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view showing the manner in which t'1e modified stern portion of the barge of the present invention reacts with the how of water relative to the barge to dampen or minimize the tendency of the barge to yaw;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a barge constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4- is a bottom plan View of the barge shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the barge, taken on the line 55 of FIG. 4-;

FIG. 6 is a rear or stern elevational view or" the barge shown in FlG. 3;

PEG. 7 is a transverse cross sectional View taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a transverse cross sectional view taken on the line 8-3 of FIG. 3;

MG. 9 is a transverse cross sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 3;

PEG. 10 is a front or how elevational view of the barge shown in FIG. 3.

Conventional barges of elongated, rectangular shape having square ends and flat bottoms with the bottom portion at each end inclined upwardly lack directional stability and, when being towed, have a tendency to yaw heavily.

The only method in use at present to minimize this yawing tendency is to place skegs on the rear portion of the barge. In FIG. 1 there is shown a conventional barge of the above type having a stem end 10, a bow end ll, sides 12 and 13 extending between the ends 10 and 11 and disposed in spaced apart parallel relationship. The barge also has a relatively flat bottom 14, the end portions of which incline upwardly, and a pair of skegs 15 and 16 disposed beneath the upwardly inclined stern portion of the bottom and are vertical to the perpendicular plane of the barge. The skegs are mutually convergent in a direction from the stern toward the bow end of the barge and are symmetrically disposed relative to the longitudinal stern line of the barge.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the stern end of the barge swings to starboard, as shown in FIG. 1, the angle of the starboard skeg 16 relative to the direction of travel will be increased, creating a reaction thrust which tends to swing the stern end of the barge to port. At the same time, the angle of the port skeg 15 in the direction of travel is decreased so that there is little or no reaction thrust to starboard. This tends to dampen out the tendency of the stern end of the barge to move laterally relatively to the bow end and cause yawing of the barge. However, such skegs are vulnerable to damage from obstructions such as piling, floating debris, and other hazards, and also have a high water resistance which will either reduce the speed of the tow by an excessive amount or increase the power requirement by a high percentage.

in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, there is shown one embodiment of a barge constructed in accordance with the present invention in which the stern end is so constructed as to minimize and dampen the tendency of the barge to yaw and the bow end is so constructed as to provide ready turning of the barge.

This barge, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, may be of the same shape, proportions and dimensions as the conventional barge shown in FIG. 1, but has a permanent bow end 17 and a permanent stern end 18, so that it would always be towed in the same relative position of its ends. The bottom 14- is relatively flat amidships and is provided at its bow and stern ends with upwardly inclined end portions 19 and 26, respectively. The sides 12. and 13 extend upwardly, one from each side edge of the bottom 14', and are spaced apart in parallel relation to each other. The upwardly inclined bottom portion 24 at the stern of the barge is provided with a recess 21 of shallow concave formation to the outer or lower side of the bottom. This recess is symmetrical relative to the longitudinal center line of the barge and, at its rear end, extends over the major portion of the width of the barge. The sides of the recess converge symmetrically in a direction from the stern toward the bow and the depth of the recess decreases from the stern end forwardly at a rate such that the recess terminates at a selected location be tween the stern end and the mid-length location of the barge. The bow end of the barge may be left unmodified but, preferably, and as shown, is modified by transversely inclining the portions of the side edges of the upwardly inclined bottom portion 19 of the bow, as indicated at 22 and 23. This construction reduces the resistance of the bow of the barge to lateral movement while the recess 21 in the upwardly inclined bottom portion 20 of the stern increases the resistance of the stem to lateral movement.

While the concave recess 21 formed in the upwardly inclined bottom portion of the stern of the barge has been shown as being of inverted V-shape in configuration, the exact configuration of the concave recess 21 is not extremely important except for two considerations; the ex- 3 J) trerne lower edges of the rake ends of the barge must be fairly sharp, as indicated at 24-25, to provide a distinct discontinuity in the flow field, and the flow lines from the. bottom of the hull should have a distinct divergence as they move aft as the barge moves forward through the water. -This flow field and its action to correct the banges yawing is diagrammatically shown in PEG. 2. The significant hydrodynamic action is that of a divergent flow occurring in the aft section of the vessel with the terminal edges 2425 of the vessel existing at the outboard corners rather than on the center line. This flow field hydrodynamically results in minimizing the tendency of the barge to yaw and helps maintain the directional stability of the barge in the line of tow. As seen in MG. 2, a large positive pressure is set up on the outboard side of the after (starboard) rake while a large negative pressure exists along the inboard side of the rake, while the port side of the rake is relatively inactive. The starboard side acts as a rudder which is hard over while the port side acts as a rudder with little or no angle of attack. This force is opposed to the yawing force and tends to return the barge to its straight course.

From the foregoing, it will readily be seen that there has been provided a novel and improved barge or vessel adapted to be towed having a bow construction to provide ready turning of the barge and a stern construction to give the vessel directional stability and minimize the tendency of the vessel to yaw.

Obviously, the invention is not restricted to the particular embodiment thereof herein shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a barge adapted to be towed, of the type having a relatively fiat bottom, square ends constituting a bow and a stern, and side walls extending upwardly, one from each side edge of said bottom in parallel relation to each other, the improvement which comprises means for creating a distinct discontinuity in the flow field with the flow lines from the bottom of the hull having a distinct divergence as they move aft to thereby minimize the tendency of the barge to yaw and help maintain the directional stability of the barge in the line of tow, including an upwardly inclined end portion of said bottom at said stern end provided with a recess concave to the outer surface of said bottom, said recess converging symmetrically of the longitudinal center line of said bottom from the stern to a predetermined point positioned between the stern of the barge and the transverse center line axis of said barge.

2. A bange as set forth in claim 1, wherein said recess is of a substantially inverted V-shape configuration in transverse cross section.

Refierences (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,193,892 Van Gorden Mar. 19, 1940 2,423,796 Platt July 8, 1947 2,546,353 Williamson Mar. 27, 1951 2,594,930 Hudson Apr. 29, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 16 Great Britain of 1881 

